Many arts reporters wondered if this day would ever come. For ten years now, local dance advocates have been working hard to raise the money and clout to rehabilitate the old Shubert building into a center for dance performance and education. Now it looks like they’re going to have their way. According to the Center, construction will begin on November 19, with a ceremonial groundbreaking.

The Minnesota Shubert Center project began when the Shubert Theater was moved from its historic location on Block E. The move, which was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, placed the Shubert Theater 50 feet away from what is now the Hennepin Center for the Arts (an 1888 building originally built as a Masonic Temple). Work on the Shubert is expected to be completed by early 2011.